A communication network includes a plurality of electronic devices and enables the electronic devices to communicate among themselves by transmitting messages that include one or more frames. An example of such a communication network is a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network. This communication is governed by standards such as IS-95, CDMA 2000, and the like. The standards strictly govern the power at which individual frames in a message are transmitted by an electronic device. As the transmission power of each frame in a message increases, a probability of successful delivery of the message at a destination also increases. If there is a constant Frame Error Rate (FER), however, the probability of successful delivery of the message decreases with increase in length (or number of frames) of the message. Assuming a constant target FER, a message with many frames, such as a signaling message, has a lower probability of successfully reaching its destination than a message with only one or two frames.
A consistently low probability of delivering a message (or a certain type of message) can result in a large percentage of messages (or a certain type of messages) not being delivered at their respective destinations. If a message containing channel information, sent from a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) to a mobile phone, is not successfully delivered, then the mobile phone may not be able to connect to a communication network. This might, at least temporarily, prevent a user of the mobile phone from making a call. Unsuccessful message delivery can also cause poor quality of communication if a large percentage of messages are lost during an active communication session. Further, in the worst case, failure to successfully receive one or more messages may lead to termination of an active communication session.
In an existing method for increasing the probability of delivery of a message, the transmission power for each message is increased by a fixed amount. However, the method has the following limitations. Firstly, the method results in excessive power consumption. Even when the message could be successfully transmitted at a lower transmission power, it is transmitted at a higher transmission power. Secondly, in the case where an electronic device is a mobile phone or other battery-powered device, the method results in shorter battery life. A user of the mobile phone will have to recharge or change the battery frequently. Thirdly, the method fails to provide a consistent quality of service because of varying probabilities of successful delivery for messages of different lengths (or different types of messages).
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.